Ice T: There was a time in my life when showbusiness was out of the question
The rapper is considered one of the pioneers of the hip hop genre, styling himself as the ‘original gangster’.
Ice T says there was a time in his life when “showbusiness was out of the question” as he was honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The US rapper and actor thanked his family, collaborators and “the haters” at the lively ceremony in Los Angeles on Friday.
Ice T is considered one of the pioneers of the hip hop genre, styling himself as the “original gangster” but has also branched out into a successful onscreen career.
He was joined by rapper Chuck D and Walk of Famers, Mariska Hargitay and Dick Wolf at the event, all of whom gave remarks.
In his own speech, Ice T recalled his beginnings in the rap industry, the emergence of “gangster rap” and his formation of Syndicate Records – hailing the fact that there had “never really been any beef” on the LA rap scene.
“I never thought I would get a star,” he said.
“The way my life was going, it was like, ‘what can we come up to Hollywood and steal?’ We were really out here causing real problems.
“This was out of the question, showbusiness was out of the question. And then Hip Hop came in. I found something that I could do.”
“But what I did was I told the stories of my life I was living and we invented a genre, well (NWA star) Ice Cube co-invented this genre called gangsta rap.
“Because when I was doing it, they didn’t have a name for it. They would call it a reality rap. Then Cube came out straight out of Compton.
“I had to follow up Cube like ‘okay, well, then I’m the original gangster Goddamnit let’s go’.”
The Grammy Award-winning artist formed Rhyme Syndicate Records in 1989 and released a string of ground-breaking West Coast rap records.
Speaking about the scene at the time, he continued: “Fortunately for LA hip hop, everybody has always been on the same page. There’s never really been an LA beef.
After thanking his family members, including his wife Coco Austin, and seven-year-old daughter Chanelle, who joined him on the podium, Ice T gave a special shout out to the “haters and naysayers”.
“You really make me get up in the morning and be the best I can be – all the naysayers, all the people that wanted to end my career.
“That’s the motivation. You’ve got to let the haters motivate you.
“If it wasn’t for the haters I definitely wouldn’t have pulled this off, I swear to God. Thank you so much and I’m gonna give you so much more to hate in the future, trust me.”
Born in New Jersey, Ice T became involved in Los Angeles gangs before spending four years in the Army, later going on to write and rap songs such as 6 ‘N the Mornin’ and the Grammy nominated New Jack Hustler.
After the creation of Rhyme Syndicate Records, he subsequently formed the thrash metal band Body Count, whose 1992 self-titled debut contained the controversial single Cop Killer.
Aside from music, Ice T has starred in multiple series and spin-offs of US cop drama Law & Order, in the role of Sergeant Odafin ”Fin” Tutuola.
His first on-screen break came when the producers of the film Breakin’ asked him to rap in the movie
He has also written five books and given lecture tours of America’s prisons, high schools, libraries and colleges, becoming an influential spokesman for America’s youth, regardless of colour.
Ice T’s star – dedicated in the category of Recording – is the 2,747th on the Walk Of Fame, and is located at 7065 Hollywood Boulevard.
